Thursday, December 31, 2015

The end of the year is a great time to check on that favorite
friend who has given you so much enjoyment over the last 12 months — your TV.
But that also means checking that there hasn’t been any problems developed over
the course of the year that has caused, or could cause problems or degrade the
quality of the picture that you’ve been watching. And if you’ve gotten yourself
a new TV — 4K
or Curved
or OLED
or HDTV
— it might seem a simple matter to just use the existing cables as
they are to connect everything. But that might not be such a good idea because
it’s the little things that can make the most impact.

So it’s time to take a good, hard look at the HDMI cables that
are being used or you will be using. We all knowhow great these cables are — they combine a
picture and audio together so there’s no need for two separate cables — and
they all look the same on the outside. They also all fit into their receptacles
(ports) in the same manner; relying on friction to hold them in place because
there’s no secure locking mechanism in place on them. So there’s no guarantee
that the HDMI cable will stay in the device it’s been attached to. And since
these cables fit into the back of the TV or Blu-ray
player or cable box, etc. — that also means they can be easily
pulled out inadvertently by the owner moving some equipment around or even just
over time.

So lets look at what can be done to ensure that the HDMI cables
are doing the best job they can.

HDMI CABLES AREN’T ALL THE SAME

HDMI first became a choice to use when HDTVs appeared. But since
then there’s been 3D added to the mix and of course now 4K high-resolution.
Using a current HDMI cable is necessary because it will be valid to use with
all that is now going on and will be going on moving forward. Using old HDMI
cables, even if they were originally given as free, can mean that the video
signal traveling through isn’t as stable or intense as needed. Better to get
new cables — high-speed
cables are easily available and in various sizes from as minimal as
3 feet on up to 12
feet. The cables
even offer some color styling as well, and in varying colors too.

ANGLING FOR A BETTER CONNECTION

The one thing that is guaranteed with a HDMI cable is that it
will eventually be pulled out of the port it’s been put into should there be
any tension brought against it. That’s because of the lack of a locking
mechanism as noted above (and the effect of gravity bearing down on the cable).
A simple and very effective solution is to use gravity to your advantage by
changing the orientation of the HDMI cable. This can be done with an adapter
that goes into the port that the HDMI cable normally would, with the HDMI cable
going then into the adapter. But the adapter isn’t straightforward and that is
its charm: it’s made on a right angle principle so that the HDMI cable that’s
connected to it is pointed straight down. There’s that use of gravity. This also
makes it far easier to remove or insert an HDMI cable and protects the port on
the TV or device (for example, an
A/V Receiver) from getting damaged from being overworked.

Sometimes the easiest solutions are the best and when it comes to
watching on one of today’s new TVs, the HDMI cable is just a pittance of the cost but can affect the
picture without one even knowing it. Short of having a professional installer,
for example Just One Touch,
coming in to set up everything for you (an excellent choice when deciding to
build a home theater around your new purchase), making sure the HDMI cables are
good is something that anyone can do.